Cardinal Gal

On 6/13/2023 at 7:43 PM, Billybob79 said:

Cardinal Gal: Are you flying the nonstop from Atlanta on Dec 8 in business class? When we booked the cruise about 3 weeks ago, we were told that there was a $3000 upcharge per person to book the nonstop on Delta. We opted to take the flight credit and book our own flights in Premium Economy, a first for us.Our free days are after the cruise. My wife is a mah jong instructor here in Atlanta at our senior education program. There is at least one other person on the Rollcall for this cruise who also plays mah jong. 

Yes we are flying nonstop from Atlanta to J’burg. We had to pay an upcharge, but not the $3k you were quoted. However, flying home we are on British Airways, CapeTown to London.  Then American home through Chicago. Wouldn’t even quote Delta to us. 

No, but we used Ramassides Tours both from Alexandria and from Safaga. Both times were excellent. 
 

We are flying to Africa on Dec 8.  Regent booked us on Delta thru Atlanta. We will just have one day free before we are with you on the Pre-cruise tour. BTW, I haven’t played mah since I was a teenager, but my mom was a maven who played 5 times a week.  

BillyBob 79:

we are also on this cruise. We also have the day before free to tour. Interested in what you find to do. 

We used Ramses in May on our Silver Spirit cruise. We were picked up in Alexandria and driven in a very clean van to Giza and Cairo. Our guide, Ayoub, was fantastic. We did the pyramids, a museum, lunch, boat ride, and visited several bazaars. It was a very long day, but Ayoub made it a great one. 
This was the second time we have used Ramses. The first was preCovid. We were picked up in Safaga and visited the Valley of the kings. Again, an excellent experience. 
Their office staff is very responsive when making arrangements. 

Our travel agent spent an hour and a half with Regent Air yesterday. We paid the deviation fee and requested Delta flights. We will be on Delta to CapeTown and British Air/American home. We were pleased with the flights and did not have to pay a surcharge. Thanks to those who took the time to help. 

We are on the Dec 13 2023 CapeTown cruise. We are curious when we can expect our air arrangements to be assigned.  Also, does anyone know if Regent contracts with Delta?  United?  

It definitely has business class air on the sale. 

We are booked on the Voyager in Dec. We are going to have Regent reprice our suite as the sale price is 40% off on our cruise. 

Lois, thanks for your posts. We leave in 11 days to join the Spirit in Athens. Our itinerary is different, but I was so pleased that you were happy with everything on board. We are bringing along our friends who are newbies to SS.  I have told them they are in for a treat.  From your experience I think they will LOVE it. Where and when is your next voyage?

Fabulous photos!  We loved our Antartica expedition. 

We are Elite on Celebrity and have over 100 days on Silversea. Overall, we prefer Silversea to Celebrity because of the size of the ships and the overall service. That being said, we have been on 2 cruises on the Edge in a Sky Suite and loved both. Luminae is a treat!  We enjoy the Retreat sun deck very much. I like that Silversea will deliver room service to you anywhere on the ship. 
It all comes down to itinerary and price. 

No Silversea cruises since 2020 in Asia. Those of us booked on fall 2022 - winter 2023 are skeptical we will sail. 

We were originally booked to go in 2 days early. Last month Silversea changed our flights so we would only have one day due to the quarantine. We are hoping we can go back to our original plan. If nothing else, we can spend some time by the pool. 

Just received an email from my TA. Chile has changed their Covid policy effective Nov 1. Chile is requiring a PCR test at the airport given by Chilean authorities. Once your negative status is confirmed you will NOT have to quarantine in the hotel. 

This is great news allowing us to tour Santiago. But, in today’s changing world, this new policy could be revised. 
 

Silversea will be sending passengers all necessary information 30 days in advance of embarkation. 
 

We are on the Cloud Dec 11!

We are on the Cloud in December. I am confused. We were told there will be a formal night. We really didn’t want to bring dressy clothes. Is there a formal night requiring a jacket and tie?  We can’t wait to go, but hoping to not overpack. 

Hope to meet you!  My DH and I will be on the ship. We are flying out of Louisville. 
I think we will have a great time!

We still hope this is a go. I have spoken to Atlas representatives and was told earlier this week that the land excursions would be posted by the end of the week. So far no info, but I know they are working on them. 
 

I will post a review assuming we sail. 

Was told by my travel agent yesterday that on Monday Atlas will announce the available shore excursions on our Greek Isles cruise.  Because the embarkation was changed to Cairo they will offer a pre-cruise land option in Egypt. I hope we are able to take advantage of the opportunity to see the pyramids. 

My travel agent just gave me 4 options for the revised itinerary:

1.  Accept the new itinerary and get 25% off a future cruise. 
2.  Cancel for full refund.

3.  Move to a later sailing and get an upgrade. 
4.  Move to another cruise before Nov 2021 and use the BOGO pricing on it. 
 

They are also cancelling stops in Israel so they have many changes to make. I asked about potential land programs in Egypt prior to the cruise, similar to the Cappadocia land trip we were booked on. Atlas is working on it, but no definite plans yet. 
 

I am not sure why Egypt is safe and Turkey is not. Both are Level 4 on the CDC website. I am thinking we will still go even if we end up doing a private land tour pre-embarkation. 

We are booked on that cruise.  Very very disappointed. I guess we will have to look carefully at the new itinerary. 

We are in KY and will fly thru ATL also. My understanding was we may have gotten the last space on the Cappadocia tour but that may be fluid. We had to pay in full for it when booking. Looking forward to meeting you!

My husband and I booked the IST to Athens voyage. The offer was too good to pass up. We are going to Cappadocia pre-cruise as it is a bucket list destination. Our favorite line is Silversea. I am not expecting Atlas to be on that level, but I have high hopes for it. 

We just stopped there on the Silver Spirit. It was rainy and the “town” was a muddy mess. We thought it was awful and went back to the ship.  Would not recommend. The squalor is depressing. 
 

Yes Chris Mack is great!  Lucky to have him. 

This is our third trip to Saigon.  The Mekong Delta is very interesting. 

My hubby won’t do the CC tunnels because of claustrophobia so we have not done that. 

We did a food tour last time and it was fabulous. 

I am a shopper so I enjoy their big market. We are planning to go to their upscale shopping area. It is supposed to be a great place for designer goods. 

Looking forward to meeting you!